Sports Wrapup

Vassar cross-country runner Steve Money '03 and swimmer Devon Chen '03 were named Outstanding Senior Male and Female Athletes of the Year, respectively, at the 18th annual Vassar College Athletic Awards Banquet in May.

Last fall, Money finished sixth at the NCAA Regional Qualifiers and participated at the NCAA Championships in St. Olaf, Minnesota. Over his career, he has won 10 of 35 races. And for the second year in a row, the College Sports Information Directors of America announced that Money has been named to the Verizon Academic All-District Cross Country/Track and Field Team. Only David Paine '02 has also achieved this honor.

Steve Money '03 with associate head coach Ron Stonitsch (left), head coach Andy Barlow (back), and Money's parents.

Chen rewrote the Brewer swimming record book in her four years with the program. She made two NCAA “B” qualifying cuts in the 100-yard freestyle (53.60) and the 100-yard butterfly (59.16) and was selected as an alternate for the NCAA Division III Championships, finishing the season as the 26th fastest 100-yard butterflyer in the nation. Chen leaves Vassar with an astonishing 10 school records.

Devon Chen '03 (second from right) stands arm in arm with interim head coach Dawn Gerken and Chen's family.

Jeff Barr '03, a standout volleyball player on a team that won 17 games, advanced to the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association Division III Championship playoffs and the NCAA Open Championship tournament. Barr took the Coaches Award. Field hockey and women's lacrosse player Kaitlin Harvie '05 received the Betty Richey Award, and the Club Sport Athlete of the Year Award went to polo player Olivia Knott '05.

Women's Tennis Makes Noise at NCAAs

The women's tennis team finished the year tied for 15th in the nation and ranked fourth (a school best( in the Northeast Region, according to the final Intercollegiate Tennis Association NCAA Division III Women's Tennis Rankings.

The Brewers finished 21-4, having the most wins in the program's history. Three Brewers were ranked regionally in singles: Diya Uberoi '04 (19th), Alexis Neider '03 (25th), and Becky Weldon '03 (30th). It was the first time that Vassar has had more than two singles players ranked. Also, the doubles team of Neider and Jessica Shofler '04 was 8th in the region.

Vassar took its first-ever UCAA Championship, won the New York State title the following week, and took home its third Seven Sisters Championship in the last four years. The team defeated 16th-ranked Bowdoin in the first round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to fourth-ranked Amherst. The win was the first of its kind for the program, which had previously lost to Kenyon in 1991 and Tufts in 2001 in NCAA play.

Photo Credit: Carlisle Stockton

Season Stats